30 percent of gay immigrants in U.S. illegally, report finds

About 904,000 adult immigrants identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, and nearly 30 percent of them are living in the United States illegally, according to a first-of-its-kind study by UCLA Law School's Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, Law and Public Policy.

As Congress debates a major immigration overhaul, the study released Friday also finds about 48,000 same-sex couples have at least one partner who is not a citizen, and thereby are disqualified by federal law from getting family-based green cards that opposite-sex couples can obtain through marriage.

Key findings regarding adult illegal immigrants include:

There are an estimated 267,000 LGBT-identified individuals among the adult illegal immigrant population, or about 2.7 percent.

Relative to all illegal immigrants, LGBT illegal immigrants are more likely to be male and are younger, and 71 percent are Hispanic and 15 percent are Asian or Pacific Islander.

Key findings regarding adult legal immigrants include:

There are an estimated 637,000 LGBT-identified individuals among the adult legal immigrant population, approximately 2.4 percent.

Like their illegal counterparts, LGBT legal immigrants are more likely to be male and are younger, and 30 percent are Hispanic 35 percent are Asian or Pacific Islander.

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Key findings regarding same-sex couples that include a foreign born spouse or partner:

An estimated 113,300 foreign-born individuals (naturalized citizens and noncitizens) are part of a same-sex couple. An estimated 54,600 of these individuals are not U.S. citizens.

An estimated 32,300 same-sex couples are binational (one U.S. citizen and one noncitizen) and 11,700 same-sex couples comprised of two noncitizens.

Nearly 7,000 same-sex couples that include two noncitizens are raising an estimated 12,400 children younger than 18.